


The Chemical of Oxytocin

by SailingChariot



Series: Free! Rare Pairs Week 2015 [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Day 1, Free! Rare Pairs Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailingChariot/pseuds/SailingChariot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei has been stuck in his lab working hard on work and his own little experiment. Curious, Haruka ends up deciding to pay him a visit to his lab and see what he's been up to. In the end, he realized what Rei has been working on and it results in them becoming closer with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chemical of Oxytocin

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 - Future Fish  
> Haruka/Rei

“…The cat just wouldn’t come down! I tried everything. You would think as a firefighter, this would be the easiest part of the job.” Makoto told Rin as Haruka made his way to their table.

Rin shook his head, “No, no. I can relate. The other day there were some kids loitering around in front of a store. They should have just left when I said so, but this whole shit storm started all because they were too lazy to move. Tsk, I hate kids…”

Haruka approached their table, placing their plates down as he heard the last thing Rin said. “You know, we were kids once.”

A roll of Rin’s eyes told Haru that he could care less. Sighing and narrowing his eyes, he was ready to walk away when he heard Makoto slip in a “Thank you, Haru”. He nodded and looked around the restaurant. Nagisa had visited earlier for brunch – saying something about having to run some earlier errands – and Makoto and Rin were there for an earlier lunch as always. However, he couldn’t help but notice there was a lack of one presence. Rei.

“Have you guys seen Rei today?” He asked, looking between the two seated males.

Makoto was in mid-bite, so he looked at Rin for an answer. Rin hummed, looking up at Haru.

“Ah. I saw him yesterday, not today. He might not come. I remember he said he was working on some new experiment.”

Swallowing, Makoto followed with, “He told me he was going to be busy all day when I dropped by on my way to the station.” Pausing, he thought for a second before offering with a knowing smile, “You could always go bring him dinner in the evening. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it after all the hard work.”

“You’ll probably be better off doing that. He hasn’t been eating much either.” Rin piped in.

Haruka raised an eyebrow but considered it. He wasn’t so sure about leaving work early, but it wasn’t like he was completely opposed to the idea of it. After all, he had a rather strange relationship with Rei at the moment. And he felt he should at least keep making the effort to make things less awkward between them.

“Enjoy your meal.” He said to his friends before turning to walk back to the kitchen. 

x X x

Evening finally rolled around and Haruka was walking to the building which Rei’s lab was located. The streetlamps had already turned on, illuminating the dim neighborhood and guiding him on his way. Turning the corner, the building’s gate was already in view and he let out a breath to ease the tension in his chest.

However, as Haruka stepped closer to the front gate, he couldn’t help but feel… confused? He saw Rei already standing at the gate and he assumed it would make his small delivery easier. What did not make it easier was the fact that he saw Rei and Gou laughing and smiling with each other.

Now he wasn’t sure if he remembered it correctly that very moment, but he thought the two were not that close. Perhaps something happened to change that, yet it did not comfort the sick feeling that began to bubble up in Haruka’s stomach. Ready to walk away and call it quits for the night – perhaps just give the meal to Rin or Makoto or even Nagisa – he was stopped by the somewhat unison of “Haruka-senpai”.

He paused, gulped, and walked over to where the two were. Despite his slight concern, he knew he was still able to keep his famous poker face in front of the two. They smiled at him, not minding the straight look they received.

“Haruka-senpai, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Gou started, causing Haru to think Likewise. She glanced over at Rei and looked back to the older male. “I was just visiting Rei-kun because onii-chan said he hasn’t been leaving the lab much.” Another look to Rei, this one more reprimanding than the last.

“As I’ve told you and all the others, I have been busy on an experiment. It requires all my time and attention.” Rei responded, trying to keep a neutral expression as though he was trying not to frown.

“That’s no excuse to not get fresh air or ignore seeing your friends!” Gou sighed, shaking her head. “Haruka-senpai. Keep him company. He’s going to end up losing his social skills if he doesn’t talk to anyone.”

“I most certainly will not!” Rei exclaimed, taking offense to the statement. However, Gou only smiled and winked knowingly at him.

“Just playing. Anyway, I have to go. I’m cooking dinner for my mom and brother. Take care you two.” She chimed before pushing the gate open and walking away.

The whole time, Haruka had just watched the exchange in words and small actions between Rei and Gou. The teasing tone, the wink; what were they all supposed to mean. If he had to be honest with himself, he would have to say he was actually feeling _jealous_ at that point. Lost in his trance of trying to decode what just happened, it took Rei’s voice to snap him out of it.

“Haruka-senpai, are you okay?” He asked, having had taken a few steps to look at him more closely.

The other blinked, moving back only a bit to look at Rei properly.

“Ah, yes, I’m fine.” He responded, glancing off to the side. Before anything else was said, Haruka lifted up the bento box he had brought with him. “I made you this. Rin said you haven’t been eating much.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Rei said, taking the box. “Did he? I told him I missed one meal. And that was only one time!”

“Either way. I hope you enjoy this.”

He smiled, “I’m sure I will. You made it after all, right?”

A nod.

“I was going to take a break now, it’s fortunate you came around this time. Would you like to join me?”

“I should really get going.”

Before Haru had a chance to move, Rei cut to the chase and asked, “Is everything alright? You seem a little off… I know it may have been a short time since we’ve last seen each other but I think I can still tell the differences in your behavior.”

“Rei, I just want to know, what am I to you?”

Blinking, Rei was caught off guard by the question. It was completely out of the blue! He knew situations like that could happen, but for him to experience such randomness that very moment made him confused.

“I’m sorry?”

“What am I to you? We are friends. But we’re not friends. So what am I?”

His fingers tightening their grip around the knot of the bento’s cloth, Rei wasn’t exactly sure what to say. He thought about it, reviewed the events over the week, and thought about the question some more. Haruka allowed him the silence to think, curious what he would say.

“Please come inside.”

“Rei--“

“Haruka-senpai, come inside. Please.” He said again, turning around to walk into the building.

Haruka frowned but listened, walking past the gate and approaching the door. He followed Rei inside, through the hallways, up the stairs, all the way until they reached his lab. Rei opened the door and allowed Haruka to walk through first before walking in himself.

“Why did you want me to come in here?” Haruka asked, looking at Rei with cautious eyes.

Rei said nothing. He only walked over to one of the long tables on the other side of the room and placed the box down. Grabbing two beakers and a dropper, he carefully took the contents of one and placed it in the other beaker. Haruka watched his movements carefully, wondering why he was avoiding the question.

Just as he was ready to ask again, he heard a sizzling sound. Rei stepped away and bit his lip, staring at the beaker he poured the solution into. A moment later, a cloud erupted from the beaker, causing the two males to flinch and move further away.

“Rei, what are you doing?!” Haru asked, covering his mouth as to avoid inhaling the wafting smoke.

“Wait. Look.” Rei responded, pointing to the remains of the cloud.

Haru looked at where the smoke drifted away. He blinked, seeing as a light blue, heart-shaped crystal was connected to the mouth of the beaker.

“Wha…”

“I was hoping it would have turned out better.” Rei sighed, disappointment in his voice. He reached over to grab the beaker and made his way to Haruka. “I’ve been working on trying to perfect this for you.” He paused. “I know we have an informal relationship, but with this I was hoping of asking you to be my boyfriend while also trying to impress you. I worked long hours to get work done so I may have more time to work on this.”

“Rei…”

“I’m terribly sorry if I made you feel as though I was ignoring you or the others.”

Haruka stared at him, noticing the frown pulling at the corner of his lips. …Those lips. Overwhelmed by the moment, Haruka leaned up and kissed Rei. Gentle, careful, fearful it would be the wrong move.

“You don’t have to do anything flashy. Especially something as dangerous as this.” Haruka said.

Rei looked at him, eyes hopeful yet expression neutral. “I believe it’s worth it when it comes to you.”

That earned a flick to the scientist’s forehead. He let out a short ‘ow!’ and Haruka laughed in return.

“I’ll be more than happy to be your boyfriend. All you had to do was ask.”

The taller male smiled as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “Then will you be my boyfriend?” He asked, holding out the strange crystal attached to the glass.

Taking the gift, he responded, “As long as you promise this won’t explode, yes.”

Rei chuckled, feeling his face heat up at the joking jab to his reputation. He smiled and leaned over to kiss Haruka again. He returned the kiss and was ready to shift closer to Rei when suddenly he felt the beaker become extremely hot. Haruka pulled away and accidently dropped the beaker as an instant reaction. It fell with a loud crash and smoke covered the floor.

“Please tell me it’s not dangerous to inhale.”

“I don’t believe so…”

Rei walked over to the wall with the windows and begun opening them up to air out the room. He wiped his hands on his lab coat and sat down on the stool by the table. “I need to work on it some more.” He mumbled to himself, thinking of what could he change to perfect it.

Haruka walked over to Rei and slipped an arm over his shoulder. He kissed the side of his head and said, “I said you didn’t need to do anything flashy. The fact that you were working on this is enough and I appreciate it. Thank you, Rei.”

“Ah. You’re welcome.” He smiled, leaning against his boyfriend.

His boyfriend…

That phrase meant a lot to Rei now.

It was only the first step in advancing in their life together. And though he planned on taking it slow, he was more than glad to continue forward with Haruka by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, please kudo, comment, and/or bookmark. It's all highly appreciated and I hope you all enjoyed reading!


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